1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to training devices to teach proper positioning and movement for a batter in relation to home plate, the pitcher and to the ball. The present invention relates to a training device for teaching a novice baseball batter the proper batting position and stride from which to hit a ball with a bat. The present invention specifically relates to a training device for teaching a novice batter where to place and how to move his or her feet in relation to home plate. The training device of the present invention particularly allows the batter to determine a point located in his or her strike zone and then place his or her feet on specific correlated markings on the device that are at a specified distance from home plate so that he or she will have the opportunity to hit the ball with a level swing of the bat with the "power zone" of the bat using a full arm extension of the leading arm. The training device further allows the batter to track his or her stride during a swing at the ball.
2. Background Information
The sport of baseball is played by large numbers of children and adults all over the world and introduction to the sport is begun at a very young age; that is, as early as five or six years old. To provide an easy introduction to the sport, a modified form of baseball for young children, known as Tee Ball is played. In Tee Ball, the ball is hit off of a Tee, which has a home plate shaped base from which a two piece telescoping member extends perpendicularly upward. However, even though Tee Ball makes it easier for a novice batter to hit the ball off of the Tee rather than hit a ball pitched by a pitcher or coach, it is still difficult for a novice batter to know where to stand and how to move in relation to home plate, in relation to the pitcher and to make good contact with the ball.
Batting training devices are known in the prior art but none of these devices provide an easy to use device which allows the batter to select the optimal foot position in relation to home plate and in relation to each other using sequential foot positions allowing for incremental adjustments without any mechanical manipulations. The proper foot positioning achieved with the present device results in a batter having a proper batting stance with the correct width and with the feet parallel to each other and squared to home plate. In a further embodiment, the training kit of the present invention, in addition to teaching a proper batting stance with feet squared to home plate, positions each individual batter to achieve a level swing with the bat by easily correlating a measurement of a point in the strike zone of the batter with the positioning of the feet of the batter at a proper distance from home plate. In yet a further embodiment, the training kit of the present invention, in addition to teaching a proper batting stance and a level swing, informs the batter of the nature of his or her movement or "batting" stride while in the process of swinging at the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,656 discloses a rectangular panel with a raised element along an end edge, which acts as a positioning indicator for the trailing or rear foot, and with a set of progressive numerical indicia along two side edges of the device. This device is placed a bat's length from the outside edge of home plate and then the length of the bat is utilized to determine the position for placing colored VELCRO markers along parallel VELCRO strips mounted along the sides of the numerical indicia to show the position of the trailing foot, the leading foot, the striding foot and the head of the batter. This device basically uses a bat to determine the proper position of the batter's feet during the swing both before and after the stride is taken.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,950 discloses another batting practice trainer having a baseball home plate with extended side borders which are to define the strike zone by having home plate indicated by a white color and the extended side edges indicated by fluorescent orange. The batter is to stand near the outside edge of one of the side borders but not on the border, to position the batter and define the strike zone. This trainer defines the same strike zone for every batter regardless of the age and size of the batter.
An apparatus for use with a batting Tee is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,580. This apparatus contains a home plate which is attached to a foot element by a telescoping connector. One end of the telescoping connector has a hole allowing it to be placed over the top of the batting Tee allowing the device to swivel around the batting Tee to change the batter's stance. This apparatus requires manual adjustment of the telescoping connectors between the batting Tee and the foot elements and between each foot of the foot element, which may require picking this apparatus up off of the ground to do so. Additionally, there does not appear to be any easy mechanism to lock the telescoping elements into position which may result in the telescoping elements moving apart during its use by the batter. Further, this apparatus does not provide any measurement information to the batter to instruct him where he should stand in relation to home plate.
All of these prior art devices are used to position the batter in relation to home plate but none of these devices use a measurement based upon the size of the individual batter to determine a point located in the strike zone of the batter and use that measurement to position the batter at a proper distance from home plate. Further, none of the prior art devices allow easy to use incremental adjustment of the foot positions in relation to home plate without any adjustments of the training device and none show the use of a means for indicating the stride of the batter during the swing.
The training device of the present invention is a simple, easy to use system, which has been designed to teach novice batters, particularly young children, the basics of proper batting techniques. The training device provides these novice batters with a system to teach proper batting techniques, which are easy to duplicate time after time, thus providing the batter with the necessary repetition of these techniques to allow these batters to successfully hit the ball. The present training device is so simple that it can be used by the child without adult supervision once the first foot positioning or first measurement has been made.